In all seriousness, university has certainly taught me that stepping out of your comfort zone is one of the best things you can do. I arrived that day as a pretty shy person, I haven't got any siblings and I come from a small town (big love to Rotherham). So the prospect of living in a big city was pretty daunting.
"university has certainly taught me that stepping out of your comfort zone is one of the best things you can do"
However, it was love at first sight. Well, to an extent. It took me a while to nail down my first proper group of friends, even though I got on well with my flat (and still live with two of them now). Eventually, I did meet the friends I’d been looking for, and still live with them as one big happy family (apart from that one-time the other Jack rolled his ankle outside GDT). And I met some other great friends who I lived with last year, so on the friend front, a job well done.
Back to the city, it was so fun having it right on the doorstep. Tynemouth, Whitley Bay, Jesmond Dene, The Cut, what more could a man want (a second Cut). No longer was I confined to Rotherham and its zero attractions; every day felt like something new.
I probably should talk about the uni itself now, saddled myself with the financial burden of debt a bit too much to omit it. Journalism’s not bad, is it? (I appreciate very few of you can answer this, so just take my word, that's pretty much the point of journalism anyway).
Also, who knew how much fun running a society could be? Certainly not me, but it brought me another great group of friends and a great bit of LinkedIn fodder. Jokes aside, we’ve done a decent job, at least I think so anyway.
Student Media as well, got to mention it as it is the reason you’re reading this. If you’re on the fence, do it, it’s so worth it, the community is great and it’s a lot of fun.
Oh yeah, I met my girlfriend at university as well (somehow), another pretty worthwhile reason for coming.
So overall, Newcastle’s pretty good, or canny, if you’re a native.
